"I'm a bad friend" - Jimmy Butler regrets not being in attendance for Carlos Alcaraz's French Open victory
Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler made sure to tune in to Friday morning's Roland Garros match between Carlos Alcaraz and new world number one Jannik Sinner. The pair competed in the semifinals of the French Open in a remarkable five-set match that saw Alcaraz win from a 2-1 set deficit. Late in the four-hour long match, Jimmy Butler took to Instagram to react.
At the time, Alcaraz was pulling ahead on the decider, breaking early to gain an edge after narrowly winning the fourth set to stay alive in the tournament. As Alcaraz surged toward victory, Butler took to his Instagram story, sharing a message for Alcaraz to see post-match.
Butler, an avid tennis fan, has made several outings to watch Carlos Alcaraz play tennis over the past two ATP seasons. Notably, the NBA vet attended the 2023 US Open to watch Alcaraz compete. Moreover, he also enjoys watching tennis on TV in his free time.
Nevertheless, Butler was watching the Grand Slam semifinal matchup on TV, as seen in his latest Instagram story post, where he wrote:
"Yes I'm a bad friend I should be there @carlitosalcarazz"
Note, as Instagram stories cannot be embedded given that they automatically delete after 24 hours, you can see a screenshot of the post below.
Looking at Jimmy Butler's love of tennis and his admiration for Carlos Alcaraz
While many NBA fans may know Jimmy Butler for his gritty two-way play on an NBA court, what many may not know is that he's an avid tennis fan. Several years ago, the NBA star began to start popping up at various ATP tournaments, drawing cameras on tennis broadcasts.
At the 2023 US Open, Butler not only had a chance to watch Carlos Alcaraz compete in person but also participate in the tournament. Butler was filmed learning the duties of a ball person early in the tournament before donning the official ball person outfit that night at the tournament.
When the ball kids ran onto the court to work the match, Butler ran out with them, joining the crew in handling ball-person duties during Carlos Alcaraz's warmup.
Check out the video below:
The next week, Jimmy Butler said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, where he explained why he's such a big fan of Carlos Alcaraz.
“He never gives up on any ball, he’ll dive, he’ll do something miraculous just to try to get the ball over the net and win a point.”
While Butler didn't attend Alcaraz' match on Friday against Jannik Sinner, he could make the trip to France for the final of Roland Garros on Sunday. With semifinal action concluding on Friday, Alcaraz will compete in the final against Alexander Zverev.